


It's the Little Things

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Deathless AU [2]
Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: Alternate Universe, GFY, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-30
Updated: 2010-10-30
Packaged: 2017-10-12 23:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The things that can change life the most can also be the smallest things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

  
**Prologue**   
_Seattle, Washington_   


Jennifer flipped open her cell as she walked out towards her car, a frown on her face at the unfamiliar number. "Jennifer Morgan, may I ask who's calling?"

"Jennifer, this is Diana, from Meany Midd..." The voice on the other end of the phone was choked, and a cold trickle went down Jennifer's spine, settling in her stomach.

"What happened to Susan?" Jennifer interrupted, the thought of the sirens half an hour earlier taking on a horrifying new significance. "Where is she?"

"She's been shot.. she's dead.."

Jennifer fought to draw in a breath, her legs trembling as she struggled to stay on her feet. She couldn't fall apart, not yet. Jeremy. Someone had to take care of Jeremy. "Has anyone called Jeremy's daycare yet?"

"No." Diana took a shuddering breath, hiccuping as she tried to keep her voice steady. "I don't have the phone number, and we're not allowed in her classroom right now. Not until..." She trailed off with a choked cry.

"It's ok." Jennifer heard the tremble in her voice, trying to push the anger and grief down. Not yet. Jeremy needed her to hold together right now. Gods, how did she tell the ten month old his mother would never come home? "I'll get Jeremy."

Closing the phone, she forced herself to move, blindly fishing her car keys out of her purse on the way to her small car. Pick up Jeremy. Take him home. Find out what to do about Susan.

"God, Sus. What am I supposed to do now?" Jennifer rested her hands on the steering wheel, looking out at the bleak winter landscape of Seattle, a silent wish filling her mind that this hadn't happened. That she didn't have to explain to her godson that his mother had died, and not abandoned him. That she didn't have to bury her closest friend.


	2. Fateful Phone Call & Interlude

**Chapter 1: Fateful Phone Call**   
_Miami, Florida_

"Eric Delko." Eric scooped up the phone as he stepped into his apartment, glancing briefly at the caller ID.

"Eric, it's Jennifer. I know it's late, but..." Jennifer trailed off, her voice hitching slightly as if she had bit back a sob.

"Jennifer?" Eric frowned, looking up at the clock, wondering what had her calling him this late. "What's wrong?"

"Susan... the friend with me the summer we met... she's... gods..." Jennifer paused, and Eric heard another strangled sob. "One of her students came into the school yesterday with a gun... she's dead... and now I've got to do what she kept putting off..."

"Jennifer. Jenn, calm down. What are you talking about?" Eric ran one hand through his hair, trying to make sense of the broken string of phrases from his friend.

A long moment of silence followed, before Jennifer spoke again, her voice still rough, but more intelligable. "Susan was shot and killed by one of her students yesterday. I've been trying to get her to find the number of the friend of yours she hooked up with that summer we met, but she's been too shy. And now I've got to find his number, and she didn't keep it where I can find it."

"Speed?" Eric frowned, still uncertain what Jennifer was trying to tell him. "I'm lost here, Jenn."

"Susan came home from Florida pregnant." Jennifer took a deep breath, and let it out in a noisy sigh. "I've spent the last nineteen months trying to get her to call, or write a letter, or something, because she only hooked up with one guy while we were in Miami. Your friend, Speed. And now it's too late for her to do that, and I can't just keep her secret."

Eric sat down abruptly on a kitchen chair, blinking, his mouth working soundlessly for a long moment. "How?"

"Hell if I know." Jennifer made a rude noise, followed by an indrawn, shuddering breath. "I don't think she even figured out how it happened. Just called Jeremy her unplanned miracle baby. Wouldn't listen when I tried to tell her she should tell his father he existed." Her voice dropped, barely audible over the phone. "Gods, Sus, why didn't you listen to me?"

"Is there anything I can do, Jenn? I mean, beyond giving you Speed's number." Eric knew his friend might be skeptical of the news Jenn had for him, but he knew her ruthless devotion to honesty far too well to doubt her.

"I don't know." Jennifer sighed again, and Eric heard the whirr of a blender in the background. "Talk me out of another chocolate smoothie?" She let out a brief laugh, edged with raw grief. "I think I've had three of them today so far."

Eric's lips twitched up in a slight grin. "Maybe you need them." He paused, his grin fading as he thought about something. "When's Susan's funeral?"

"This weekend. Saturday." Jennifer caught herself on a sob. "Do you have the time to make it up to Seattle for the weekend?"

"Yeah. I'll let H know in the morning."

"Thank you, Eric." Near silence came over the phone for a long moment. "I really should make that call to your friend soon. Before I loose myself in a movie and another smoothie."

"Yeah," Eric agreed quietly, waiting until Jennifer had something ready to write on before rattling off Speed's number.

"I'll talk to you later, Eric. Call me when you know what flight you're taking up here?"

"Yeah. Later, Jenn."

"Bye."

~ ~~ ~

Speed looked at the clock when his phone rang, hoping it wasn't the lab calling at this time of night. Or someone with bad news.

"Hello?"

"Is this Tim Speedle?" A woman's voice came over the phone, sounding vaguely familiar.

"Yeah. And you are?"

"Jennifer Morgan. We've met a couple of times, but not really talked. Two years ago, in the summer, I was in Miami with a friend of mine, Susan Graham. She hooked up with you for the summer. And ten months ago, she had a son. As far as I know, the only person who could be the father is you."

Speed blinked as the woman finally stopped for breath, trying to decipher the rapidly spoken words. "Ma'am, could you repeat that? Slower, this time."

"My name is Jennifer Morgan. I had a friend, Susan Graham, whom you met two years ago during the summer. She had been looking for a summer fling, and when we came back to Seattle, she came back pregnant. You're the only person she slept with that summer. Susan had a son, ten months ago. Jeremy. Your son."

"What?" Speed shook his head, wondering about the woman's sanity. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Not unless the joke's on me," Jennifer snapped. "And with her dead, I can't ask her if she might not have had some one-night-stand I'm not aware of to muddy the question of who's Jeremy's father is."

"What?" Speed frowned, giving up on the idea of getting sleep any time soon. "Miss Morgan, why don't you start from the beginning..."

"The beginning." Jennifer's voice was flat. "July, Miami, two years ago. A club, Susan doesn't dance much, I had met Eric out on the dance floor. I come back to the table, you were sitting with her, and the two of you were talking. You and Susan have a summer fling, something she'd wanted to find. August, Susan and I return to Seattle. She finds out she's pregnant, despite being careful about such things. Middle of April, Susan gives birth to a son, Jeremy. She doesn't listen when I tell her she should tell the father, you, about Jeremy. Yesterday, a student shoots Susan, and now I have a ten month old child on my hands, whose father isn't even aware he exists. Do I need to repeat it again?"

Speed closed his eyes, staring at the inside of his eyelids for a long moment. "Look, Miss Morgan, why don't I call you back in the morning? It's after eleven, and I have to work in the morning."

"I've classes to teach tomorrow morning. Eric knows my schedule this semester, if you ask him."

"Fine. Good night, Miss Morgan."

"Good night, Mr. Speedle." A click announced her hanging up from her end, and Speed dropped the phone back in its cradle, sighing.

"This is not funny."

**Interlude 1**   
_Seattle, Washington_

Jennifer sat down at her desk, resting her hand in her hands for a long moment, trying to compose herself before her class. She couldn't show up like this, even though her students would know about Susan's death already, with it all over the news. A knock on the door made her look up, raising an eyebrow at the student who stood there.

"Yes, Vivica?"

"Hey, Prof." Vivica settled onto the chair next to the desk, studying her face a moment. "We met up last night, the class. We can work on those short stories today, and you take the day, if you'd like. None of us really expected you to be here, anyway."

"Then why are you in my office, if you didn't expect me to be here?"

"Because I volunteered to see if you were here, so none of us would be marked late, since we're all at the library." Vivica shrugged, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a lopsided grin. "We got a sign-in sheet so you know who showed up to the class today, too. So go get your god-son and go home, Prof."

Jennifer regarded Vivica silently for a long moment, turning over the idea in her mind. She could take the morning, and return for the afternoon class, if they didn't follow the example of the morning class, and take the decision out of her hands.

"I expect to see that sign-in sheet in my box when I stop by my office tomorrow." Jennifer gave Vivica a small smile, the younger woman letting out a sigh of relief. "Class will occur as usual next week."

"Gotcha, Prof." Vivica nodded as she stood up. "I'm gonna get back to the others, and let 'em know you approve. See you on Tuesday!"

Jennifer let herself slump onto her desk again after Vivica left, the tears she'd tried to lock away slipping down her cheeks.


	3. Need the Weekend Off

**Chapter 2: Need the Weekend Off**   
_Miami, Florida_

"Hey, Eric, tell me something, will you?" Speed looked over at Eric as they pulled out of the parking lot at the lab, heading for the crime scene. "What's with this Jennifer Morgan? She called me last night, something about a friend of hers and a kid?"

"Jenn's friend Susan was shot two days ago. She said there was a secret Susan had been keeping that she didn't feel comfortable hiding anymore. Susan's son, Jeremy."

"And you gave her my number?"

"Yeah. She said she wanted to get the call in before she got sidetracked. Look, I said I'd go up for the funeral this weekend. I'll talk to Jenn. We can figure out something, find out if Susan was right about the baby."

"You really think she's telling the truth?" Speed had a doubtful expression on his face.

"It's not like Jenn to lie. Not about something important like this, anyway." Eric shook his head to emphasize his point. "She's got this brutal honesty that's kinda scary sometimes."

"Great." Speed grimaced, looking out the window for a long moment. "What do you think she'll do if she's right, and that kid is mine?"

"I don't know. Jenn always said she'd never have kids, doesn't do well with them." Eric shrugged, a troubled look on his face. "She's got a break between morning and afternoon classes today, when she's got time to talk."

"You got a phone number for her? She said something about calling her back, since it was late."

"Yeah. Just a moment." Eric stopped for a red light, taking the moment to pull his cell phone out of his pocket, handing it to Speed. "She gets out of class about one o'clock our time."

"Thanks."

~ ~~ ~

"Jennifer Morgan, Seattle University, English Department. How can I help you?"

Speed rubbed the back of his head a moment, taking a deep breath. "Tim Speedle. You called me last night, about a friend of yours, and a kid you think is mine."

"I'm fairly certain Jeremy is your son, but if you'd rather have proof, a paternity test could always be done. I can authorize it, as Jeremy's legal guardian."

"Yeah. And if Jeremy's my son, what then?"

"Then, I don't know. Susan always said that if something happened to her, she wouldn't trust anyone more than me to take care of Jeremy. And I really don't do well with children unless they're old enough to hold an intelligent conversation." Jennifer sighed, and Speed heard the rustle of papers in the background. "And I don't know how well you'd be able to take care of a ten-month-old child."

"I don't know." Speed grimaced, hoping she wouldn't decide to hand Jeremy over, and wash her hands of the mess. "I've never had to deal with the possibility."

"I shouldn't have had to deal with the risk. But now, I do, and somehow, this has to be figured out. One way or another." Jennifer paused. "Why don't you come up with Eric for the funeral, and we can get the paternity test out of the way?"

Speed looked up at the sky a moment, squinting, tempted to just send up a genetic profile for the comparison. He didn't remember Susan very well, just an impression of a good time from the summer, and a pretty face. Not enough reason to go up for her funeral, unless Jeremy was his son... He sighed, shaking his head.

"I'll be there. Let me go talk to my supervisor, make sure I can get the weekend off."

"Mmm-hmm. Either you or Eric give me a call when you guys have your travel arrangements made, so I know when to expect you up here."

"Yeah, sure. You have a good day, Miss Morgan."

"You too, Mr. Speedle." A click came over the phone as Jennifer hung up, and Speed closed his phone, going to find Horatio.

~ ~~ ~

"You got a moment, H?"

Horatio looked up from his messages as Speed stepped out of the elevator, raising an eyebrow in question at the troubled expression on the younger man's face. "Yes, Speed, what is it?"

"I need the weekend off." Speed rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing. "I've got something I need to take care of, personal business."

Horatio turned to face Speed, frowning slightly. He'd already told Eric he could take the weekend, to visit a friend and attend a funeral. What had Speed wanting to take off for the same weekend?

"Could you be more specific?"

"Um.." Speed glanced at the young officer behind the desk, and Horatio stepped off to one side with him, out of earshot of the front desk. "I got a call last night from a friend of Eric's, because her friend has a kid she thinks is mine. Jeremy. Eric trusts her to be honest, so I'm going to go up, and get a DNA test. I don't know what's going to happen if that kid is mine." He sighed, shaking his head. "Worst case, she'll bring the kid down here and wash her hands of him if he's mine."

"I see." Horatio stepped back, looking down at his hands a moment before looking back up, scanning the hall without looking over at Speed until he spoke again. "I'll see you back here on Monday, then."

"Thanks."

Horatio watched the younger man walk away, a slight frown on his face. He made a mental note to keep tabs on the child Speed had mentioned, especially if he proved to be Speed's son. Just in case.


	4. Family Resemblance & Interlude

**Chapter 3: Family Resemblance**   
_Seattle, Washington_

Jennifer shifted Jeremy to her other shoulder as she waited in the terminal, watching the arrivals for Eric and Speed's flight, rocking slightly on her feet to keep the baby quiet. The crowds coming from the baggage claim swirled as people looked for those waiting to pick them up, or made their way out to grab a taxi or to a parked car, and she wished she were a bit taller, so she could see better over their heads.

"Jenn." Eric's voice reached her before she spotted him, and she turned, smiling when she caught sight of him, and the other man trailing him, looking warily at Jeremy. "How are you holding up?"

"Sane, if barely." Jennifer let out a soft bark of laughter. "I never realized quite how much Susan kept Jeremy from driving me crazy before this." She shifted Jeremy onto her hip to accept the hug from Eric, leaning her head against his shoulder for a long moment. "I have the car parked way out in the lot, so it's a bit of a walk. Hope you brought a coat, it's colder here than in Miami."

"So we noticed. It doesn't snow that often in Miami." Eric stepped back, letting Speed come closer as Jeremy picked his head up from Jennifer's shoulder to look at the new people.

"You must be Tim Speedle." Jennifer held out her hand to shake his, before turning so Jeremy could get a better look, the ten-month-old craning his neck to see who she was talking to. "This is Jeremy."

Speed met the sleepy, curious gaze of the toddler with a rising sense of certainty that Jennifer was right in thinking the little boy was his son. Unruly black hair and a snub nose, and a direct gaze that reminded him of his half-remembered baby pictures.

"He doesn't look like Susan at all." Jennifer's voice was quiet, barely audible over the ambient noise of the airport terminal. She shifted Jeremy on her hip again, shaking her head slightly. "Well, let's get you guys back to the house. It's what, midnight back in Miami? You must be exhausted." She tugged the hood of Jeremy's coat up, leading the way towards the parking lot.

~ ~~ ~

"The couch down here unfolds into a bed, though it can be a bit stubborn at times." Jennifer closed the door behind them, shutting out the damp, chilly breeze that followed them inside. "The guest room and Susan's room, where Jeremy sleeps, are upstairs, on either side of the hallway. I'll show you, and you guys can figure out who's sleeping where while I get Jeremy into bed."

She didn't even look back to see if they followed as she made her way up the stairs, jiggling Jeremy slightly when he started to whine, murmuring inaudibly, her tone gentle. Eric wondered for a moment why she always said she never wanted children of her own, as he followed her up the stairs, leaving his bag next to the door for now.

"This is the guest room. Susan was planning to turn it into Jeremy's room soon, since the couch folds out, and we don't have a lot of guests these days." Jennifer pushed open the door on the right, and flipped on the light to reveal a room decorated in bright blues and yellows, though the bed still had a relatively nuetral spread on it, to keep the eyes from watering.

"I'll take the couch. Even if it is a bit stubborn." Eric shook his head as Speed rolled his eyes.

Jennifer chuckled softly as she stepped across the hall. "Made up your mind a bit quick, Eric. Careful not to pinch yourself unfolding the couch. It likes to bite." She turned the knob, pausing with the door open just a crack. "I'll be down in a moment to give you hand if you need it."

~ ~~ ~

Closing the door behind her, Jennifer leaned against it, Jeremy still asleep against her shoulder, fighting the urge to bang her head against the wood. "Red just wouldn't go with the decoration of your room, Sus. Wouldn't do to have your best friend splash some on the door, would it now?" She whispered the questions, lifting one corner of her mouth in a wry grin before pushing away from the door.

Jeremy didn't wake as she pulled his coat and hat off, and the snow pants she'd put on over his pajamas. Settling him in the crib, Jennifer looked down at him, a tear slipping down her cheek. "You won't even remember her. Your mum. She loved you so much. Clouded her judgement sometimes. You shouldn't have to grow up without her, Jeremy," she murmured, stroking Jeremy's curly black hair. "We'll bury her tomorrow, and all you'll have is pictures of her. And stories. So much less than you should have, little one."

Shaking her head, Jennifer turned away from the crib, dashing the tears from her eyes before opening the door, and heading down the stairs, glancing into the front room to see how Eric was coping with the couch. She chuckled as she paused at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the arch leading into the room.

"I said it was stubborn." She smiled slightly as Eric looked up. "Usually works better if you have two people to pull it out. Susan thinks the joints are rusted. Thought." Jennifer ran a hand through her hair, looking up at the ceiling with a sigh. "I keep doing that. Talking like she's still here. It's so hard to... she shouldn't be dead. If she'd just... just ducked, or something, she might still be alive."

"Hey." Eric abandoned his attempt to unfold the couch, stepping around his luggage to wrap her in a hug. "It's ok. It's normal." He rubbed her back with one hand as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Doesn't make it any easier to deal with." She paused, wrapping her arms around him, clinging to him as if the proximity of another human, a friend, would make the whole situation better. "Everyone says that, you know. Along with useless platitudes and quasi-religious bullshit. It really doesn't matter if she's "in a better place," or that she died instantly. It doesn't change the fact that she's dead. That Jeremy will grow up without his mother, or a whole classroom of students has to live with seeing their teacher killed in front of them, by one of their own classmates."

"I know." Eric rubbed her back for a moment longer, before she pulled away, smiling wanly at him.

"Thank you, Eric. For flying up here. It means a lot." Jennifer squeezed his hand, turning away to walk down the hall towards her bedroom at the back, wrapping her arms around herself in an unconscious gesture to ward off the emptiness she felt gnawing at her.

**Interlude 2**   
_Sultan, Washington_

"Joyce, it's not going to work." Andrea fiddled with her tea as she watched her sister pace in front of her couch. "You know Susan would have made arrangements to ensure her son is taken care of. And not by you and Mark."

"Probably by that no-good woman she lived with. She poisoned her mind, Andrea. And I'll not let her do the same to my grandson." Joyce shook her head, one hand clenching into a fist before she noticed, and uncurled her fingers.

Andrea sighed, settling her tea down on her table. "Joyce, you ignored what Mark was doing to her. Supported him when he said he was just 'disciplining' Susan. It was abuse, and if it weren't for the fact she wouldn't testify against either of you in criminal court, we wouldn't be having this conversation." She held Joyce's gaze as the woman whirled to glare at her. "No one else could prove it, because Susan never would tell us the truth about it. But you and I both know the excuses you made, and still make, for that scum-bag you married."

"Mark is a decent man, Andrea. No matter what fantasies you entertain about him, or the lies that little drama-queen Jennifer talked Susan into believing." Joyce shook her head, and headed for the stairs. "I'm going to bed. We have a funeral to attend tomorrow."

Clenching her jaw, Andrea waved a dismissive hand at her younger sister, waiting until she heard the door to her guest room close before letting out a sigh. "Oh, Joyce. If you weren't my sister, I'd smack you." She stood slowly, grimacing at the pain in her joints, making her way towards her own bedroom, and her sleeping husband. At least she could go to the funeral, and lend her support to Jennifer. And try to keep Joyce from making a mistake she'd regret later.


	5. Cereal on the Ceiling

**Chapter 4: Cereal On the Ceiling**   
_Sattle, Washington_

Speed woke with a start, wincing at the bright sunlight streaming in the window through sheeer yellow curtains. Something had dragged him out a fitful sleep... A wail came from across the hall, and he frowned, rubbing the back of his neck a moment before grabbing a pair of pants to put on, and padding out into the short hallway. He glanced down the stairs, hoping that Eric's friend was on her way up, and grimaced when he saw just empty stairs.

Shaking his head, he carefully opened the door to the other room, the wailing stopping briefly as he stepped in, Jeremy looking up at him with a teary-eyed face that scrunched up again a moment later.

"Don't.. please.." Speed winced as Jeremy started to wail again, making his way to the crib, looking around the room as he crossed it. The walls were painted a deep rose, the quilt on the bed accented in the same shade. "Your mom really liked pink, didn't she?" Speed looked down at Jeremy a moment, before gingerly picking him up, not sure what to do with the kid.

The wailing quieted to whimpers as he shifted Jeremy to rest against his shoulder, as Jennifer had done at the airport the night before, and Speed let out a small sigh of relief.

"Let's go see if your..." Speed paused, uncertain of the relation between Jeremy and Jennifer. "Let's go see if Jennifer's awake, and let her deal with you, ok?" He looked down at Jeremy before heading down the stairs, glancing over to see if Eric had managed to sleep through the wailing that had woken him up.

"Great." Speed sighed, shaking his head, and turning down the hall. "No wonder I'm the only one awake." He glanced through the half-open door on the right, and shook his head. Dining room. And he doubted the arch beyond it would be a bedroom. Especially not with the aroma of brewing coffee drifting down the hall from it. "Right. Door on our left."

~ ~~ ~

Eric opened the door quietly, holding up a hand to keep Speed quiet until he closed the door behind him. "She's had a hard time getting to sleep. Thought maybe she'd get to sleep better if she had someone else there." He kept his voice low, wanting to let Jennifer sleep as long as possible. "What's up?"

"You mean you didn't hear the kid crying earlier?"

"Yeah. He woke me up." Eric shrugged, giving Speed a confused look. "Why?"

"What the heck are we supposed to do with him if she's not awake?" Speed glanced down as Jeremy shifted, the toddler twisting to look at Eric, a scowl on his little face.

"He just woke up. Maybe he needs his diaper changed, or he's hungry. Or he just wants attention." Eric took Jeremy, smiling at the kid to try to keep him from howling again. "I had to babysit some of my cousins when I was a kid. I'll change his diaper, and you see if there's some baby cereal or formula in the kitchen. He should be eating some solid food by now."

"Right." Speed scrubbed a hand across the back of his head as he made his way to the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to survey the room. "Where would someone put baby cereal?"

~ ~~ ~

Jennifer yawned, rolling over to look up at the ceiling as she opened her eyes. A giggle from the kitchen caught her attention before she could think about the day's event, and she frowned, looking over at her clock.

"Bloody hell." She sat up with a start, shaking her head as she reached for her bathrobe, wrapping it around her as she hurried from the room. Jeremy would have woken up over an hour ago... Jennifer paused in the doorway of the kitchen, trying hard not to laugh at the sight that met her eyes.

Jeremy giggled again, bringing his hand down into the puddle of cereal on his high-chair tray, Speed shielding his head as Eric ducked behind the fridge. Jennifer looked up, wincing at the speckles of beige on the white ceiling.

"You might care to get a shower, Mr. Speedle." Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest as Speed turned, fighting the grin threatening to spread across her face. "You look like you had a bad experience making a malted milk-shake. Did the blender lid come off again?" She gave him an innocent grin as he raised an eyebrow.

"Does he do this every morning?"

"Only when the person trying to feed him has never done so before." Jennifer shoved away from the archway, heading for Jeremy. "There's only one shower. Through my room, the open doorway. Feel free to use the shampoo and bodywash."

"Thanks." Speed grimaced, scraping off some of the sticky cereal off his hands as he headed for the hallway. "Oh, watch out for the puddle on the floor. He threw his bottle earlier."

"Lovely." Jennifer fixed Jeremy with an amused glare. "You are being quite the troublesome little boy for our guests, aren't you, Jeremy?"

He giggled, and held out messy hands to be picked up from his chair.

"You could have woken me up, Eric." Jennifer settled Jeremy on her hip, turning back to raise an eyebrow at him. "You didn't. Why?"

"You needed the sleep." Eric shrugged, carefully stepping around the puddle on the floor, reaching for the roll of paper towels on the counter. "I can clean up in here, let you get Jeremy ready for the day."

"Thank you." Jennifer freed one hand, resting it on his arm a moment. "I'm glad you came up here. It means a lot to me."


End file.
